A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

The year 1984 was momentous. Not only was it the year CEI was founded, but social psychologist Robert Cialdini published the pathbreaking Influence. In the long-awaited follow up, Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade, Cialdini shares case studies from extensive field research on what has come to be known broadly as behavioral sciences. He asks a question relevant to us all – how do we to maximize our communication efforts to increase the likelihood of persuading our colleagues, clients, friends and even, policymakers? The central insight is as simple as it is profound. The best persuaders create “privileged moments for change” through effective communication. The determinative factor in persuasion, as explained in Pre-Suasion, is not in the argument made, nor is it in how the point is communicated, but in the moment and the associated feelings that come just prior to the pitch. The anecdotes read like pages from field notes on a study of human behavior. Cialdini shows us that we all still have something to learn about how to persuade and importantly, what to do before we try to persuade.

More great books from 2016 here.